Monday, March 2, 2009

Bumps and bruises....

So, Jenna's full on crawling (I have a couple videos, but they're stuck in the camera until I get a moment to upload) and now she can pull herself to standing. At first, she'd get stuck standing, then cry not knowing how to get back down to move on.

So, now she's figured she can plop down on her butt. Falling with style, right? And, she's currently working on reaching out for other objects... reaching over to something to pull herself up. Which sounds like fun, right?

Ugh. She was pulling herself up and down from the coffee table. The coffee table that I really don't like, but bought while I was in college and broke and we needed a place to put our remote controls. It's ugly. Aluminum frame, glass top, ugly. Anyway, she was pulling up (from farther away that I would've liked... a side effect of this new found 'testing limits' thing) and her hand slipped... her face, more specifically, the bridge of her nose bashed against the aluminum frame and we waited the requisite half a second to see her response (sometimes it's none, sometimes she cries).

At this point I need to say that the day before we went to 'Baby Sign' class and learned all kinds of nifty signs to use with her. And, in order to teach hurt/pain, the instructor encouraged us to wait until they tumble, or they bop their head and then show the sign once or twice before comforting. She said it won't take long and you'll still shower with hugs and kisses but it will help when the baby can tell you they have an ear ache and aren't hungry down the line.

So, I started to sign 'hurt' and realized it was worse than I thought. I picked her up. Nick jumped up. I asked him to sign 'hurt' while I comforted her. His reply was "I don't know hurt" I showed him behind J's back (while holding her) he signed it once then said "Babe, she's bleeding". UGH. My heart dropped. Why was I trying to teach her signs when she hit herself hard enough to cause a bloody nose? It took her a bit to calm her down, but we did, the bleeding stopped and her face swelled up a bit.

After a bit of discussion, we decided it was worth a call to the advice line in case there was anything to watch out for. After 25 minutes on the phone, she said that they'd like to look at her. Likely it's nothing but if there was a fracture, it could lead to a brain infection, so it's worth coming in even if it's nothing.

We went to Minor Injury we got seen relatively quickly (30 minutes) and when the Doc came in he said to Jenna "Hi honey! Did someone drop you?" AHHH! No!!!! my response? "No! She kinda dropped herself. She's learning to pull up and slipped". He looked right at her said, "I think it's just a bruise" but continued to check her ears and nose... he then went on to say "Even if it is broken, it's still symmetrical looking, so it should heal just fine. Nothing else we can do about it."

On the way back home, Nick said he felt bad. We were about to have some friends over with a baby and he was concerned that our house was 'too dangerous'. I told him that we couldn't have prevented it (without removing the table entirely, which we may consider doing) and it's ok.

So, we went home, she took a nap, friends came over and the babies were playing on the kitchen floor... then Jenna fell again. This time she was just sitting (something she's really mastered... she hasn't toppled for over a month!) she fell back and bopped her head on the kitchen cabinets. I have since done a few google searches and she's likely become a bit more clumsy because she's either a) right on the brink of a growth spurt or b) trying to 'push the limits' of her situation (like reaching too far off a ladder and losing your balance) Either way, it's not fun for anyone.

It's been hard to watch, and I've been trying to find the balance between encouraging her to try new things and keep her safe. I can tell she's working on mastering the new mobility (both in lateral movements with crawling and now vertical movements with pulling up to surfaces) but I just don't know how or when to stop her in order to ensure her safety. I've always been one to expect bumps and bruises... I guess I just didn't expect to see her first bloody nose (and potentially broken nose... they said it was straight, so they can't do anything for it) at 8 months old.

It takes a while..and this new stage will definitely elicit a few gasps from mommy and daddy but it will get better!! We used to have a wood coffee table (hard sharp edges) but it's since been banished to the garage and replaced with a cushioned leather ottoman/table to help buffer the inevitable head bumps as C goes boom. Hugs to Jenna!!